1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to devices for holding flexible bags and is directed more particularly to a device for holding a sand bag while the bag is being filled with sand.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In flood control and in military defense situations, bags filled with sand and tied closed are used in large numbers. Such bags usually are filled essentially in situ in view of the relatively large volume and weight of filled bags, making transport of filled bags impracticable in most instances.
Filling a sand bag usually requires the attention of two people, one to hold the bag in an upright and open condition, and the other to shovel sand into the bag. Obviously, for each 1,000 people assigned to filling sand bags, only 500, or so, typically are actually filling, while the other 500 are holding. Further, the bag holders often are accidentally struck on the hands, head and face by the fillers whose accuracy diminishes as exhaustion approaches.
It is deemed beneficial, particularly when time is short, as in xe2x80x9cflashxe2x80x9d flood situations, to be able to devote a large majority of the assigned people to actually filling the bags, and to make the bag filling exercise as safe as possible.
Generally similar devices have been provided previously. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 228,733, issued Jun. 15, 1890, in the names of H. M. Curtis, et al, there is shown a bag-holder having a bag-holding loop for retaining the open end of a bag. A circular lower loop is provided and disposed beneath the bag-holding loop. A single post is fixed to the lower loop and extends upwardly therefrom. The bag-holding loop is mounted on the post.
In U.S. Pat. No. 1,052,379, issued Feb. 4, 1913, in the names of J. F. Ranken, et al, there is shown a refuse bag assembly which includes upper and lower loops interconnected by legs extending therebetween. The upper loop supports a bag which hangs therefrom. The lower loop forms a base for the assembly. Both loops are circular in configuration.
In U.S. Pat. No. 1,512,421, issued Oct. 21, 1924, in the name of J. F. Harrison, there is shown a bag holder having a single loop for attachment to a wall. The single loop supports a bag which hangs therefrom.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,627,242, issued Dec. 14, 1971, in the name of A. P. Vandermast, there is shown a bag holder having an upper circular loop and a lower circular loop. The two loops are mounted on legs. The lower loop is removably attached to the legs intermediate of the upper loop and lower free ends of the legs. A bag is hung from the upper loop. The lower loop locks the legs in position. Both loops are circular in configuration.
In the filling of sand bags, the shovellers typically are positioned on a sand pile, or adjacent thereto, within a shovel""s reach. The holders, whether people or bag-holding devices, are typically in a circle around the sand pile and the shovellers. When devices of the types shown in the prior art, such as Curtis, Ranken and Vandermast, are used in conjunction with sand bags of the type readily available and currently used in large quantities, such devices provide benefits but also certain problems which must be contended with. As the bag is filled, and xe2x80x9cballoonsxe2x80x9d out at the bottom, the top of the bag often is drawn downwardly through the upper loop, effectively stopping the filling operation until a person reattaches the open end of the bag to the device""s upper loop. Further, the number of devices which can be placed in a circle around a pile of sand is limited by the diameter of the lower loop; that is, only so many circular loops can be placed side by side in a circle around the sand pile.
Accordingly, there is a need for a bag-holding device which is operative to lock the open end of the bag in place automatically as the bag is filled. There is further a need for a bag-holding device having a loop member serving as a base for the device and having a reduced width, so that more holders may occupy a given circle around a sand pile.
An object of the invention is, therefore, to provide a device for supporting a flexible bag in an upright and open condition for filling by a single operator.
A further object of the invention is to provide such devices as are operative to lock a bag in place on the device as the device is filled.
A still further object of the invention is to provide such a device provided with a lower loop adapted to serve as a base portion of the device and having a reduced widthwise dimension so as to permit positioning of larger numbers of the device in a circle.
With the above and other objects in view, as with hereinafter appear, a feature of the present invention is the provision of a device for supporting a flexible bag, the device comprising a generally elliptically-shaped first loop of rigid wire-like material, the first loop being adapted for engagement with a support surface, legs upstanding from the first loop and inclining inwardly, and a generally elliptically-shaped second loop of rigid wire-like material fixed to upper ends of the legs, which maintain the second loop spaced from the first loop, in a plane parallel with a plane of the first loop, and disposed centrally of the first loop in plan view. The first loop is provided with straight side portions parallel to each other, and the second loop is provided with straight side portions parallel to each other.
In accordance with a further feature of the invention, there is provided a device for supporting a flexible bag, the device comprising a generally elliptically-shaped first loop of rigid wire material, the first loop being provided with straight side portions parallel to each other and being adapted for engagement with a support surface, legs upstanding from the first loop, and a generally elliptically-shaped second loop of rigid wire material fixed to ends of the legs, the legs maintaining the second loop spaced from the first loop, in a plane substantially parallel with a plane of the first loop, and disposed substantially centrally of the first loop in plan view, the second loop being provided with straight side portions parallel to each other and to the first loop straight side portions, the legs inclining inwardly from the first loop to the second loop.
In accordance with a still further feature of the invention, there is provided a device for supporting a flexible bag, the device comprising a first loop of rigid wire material, the first loop forming a bottom base for the device and adapted for engagement with a support surface. The first loop is provided with straight first and second side portions parallel to each other and curved first and second end portions opposed to each other and each joining the first and second side portions. Legs are fixed at a lower end portion thereof to the first loop and are upstanding from the first loop. A second loop of rigid wire material is fixed to upper end portions of the legs, the legs maintaining the second loop spaced from the first loop, in a plane substantially parallel with a plane of the first loop, and disposed centrally of the first loop in plan view. The second loop forms a top member of the device and is adapted to support an open end of a flexible bag. The second loop is provided with first and second straight side portions parallel to each other and to the first loop first and second straight side portions, respectively, and provided with curved first and second end portions opposed to each other and each joining the second loop first and second side portions. The legs incline inwardly from the first loop to the second loop. The legs comprise first and third legs on the first end portions adjacent respective straight side portions of the first and second loops, and second and fourth legs on the second end portions adjacent respective straight side portions of the first and second loops. The first and second legs are closer together along the loops than the first and third legs and the second and fourth legs, and the third and fourth legs are closer together along the loops than the first and third legs and the second and fourth legs. The legs permit a sandbag mounted on the device with an open end thereof folded over the second loop and extending downwardly therefrom, and being filled with sand, to bulge outwardly at the end portions thereof while being restrained from bulging outwardly at the straight side portions, to cause an upper portion of the sandbag to be drawn inwardly onto the legs and the second loop, to lock the sandbag onto the device.
The above and other features of the invention, including various novel details of construction and combinations of parts, will now be more particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings. It will be understood that the particular device embodying the invention is shown by way of illustration only and not as a limitation of the invention. The principles and features of this invention may be employed in various and numerous embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention.